On and off the boat in Georgetown

Turns out Georgetown is quite the hub for cruisers. We have come across several boats that spend several months here in Georgetown. Otherwise, it is full of cruisers that are traveling around the Bahamas and taking stopping here to take advantag of the shops. There are few more shops here than you will find in most of the smaller islands and cays. I say a few more shops, because there are still only a very few. When we first ‘landed’ in Georgetown it seemed that the island had invested very little into infrastructure. Downtown lacks sidewalks and the roads are spotted with potholes. But then, when we caught a cab ride up to the International (!) airport, we found that there are some very nice beach houses and resorts and even a new well-marked road.

From Big Major Cay we sailed with the gennaker down to Cave Cay where we were able to anchor off this now private island. It was a very relaxed, and slower, sail. This day was also Norah’s birthday! We enjoyed spagetti with meatsauce at the request of the birthday girl and then chocolate cake. She wanted a orange dinosaur with green spots and a tail that wasn’t iced for her brother. So that is what she got. I think she was a happy girl that day. As an added bonus, she lost her right upper front tooth!

The following day however, there was only 2 knots of wind, so we motored into Georgetown. We went into town to get some groceries and arrange a cab for the next morning as my mom was catching an 8am flight out. We enjoyed a nice dinner on our boat for our last night with Nanna.

The following day, we got up at 5am to take my mom to the airport. The airport was quite small and when we arrived, 2 hours ahead of her 8am flight as instructed, the airport was just opening up. We were the first ones there! Luckily, we got to see a very pretty sunrise when we got out because airport is near the highest point on the island. Kevin and I returned to Seasura and took a nap before waking up with the kids. We had been in contact with some of the other kid boats in the Bahamas so when we arrived in Georgetown (or rather Elizabeth Harbour who’s main town is Georgetown on Great Exuma Island) we were immediately notified of a group trip to the ‘lazy river’ happening on Saturday. We made sure to get up in time to join the other families on this expedition. The ‘lazy river’ in the park area south of Georgetown, is actually a current that you can ride with the incoming tide. It starts between two islands where the open ocean feeds into the inter-island water systems and carries you towards Georgetown. There were 9 families that joined, all with their own dinghies. It was an hour and twenty minute dinghy ride to the start of the lazy river! It was pretty neat to look at all the dinghies traveling along together. We spent a great deal of time driving fast too! On route we went between islands and near sand banks and mangroves. The start of the lazy river has an easily accessible dinghy beach with amble room for our large group. We all beached our dinghies and got in the river. We quickly realized however, that the lazy river only travels one way. So, if we wanted to take it all the way, we would also have to float our dinghies behind us. Many of the kids were more interested in catching the waves on the ocean side of the island and the others were content to just ride the river a short distance so they could swim right back to the dinghies. As a result, we just spent our time hanging around the dinghy beach enjoying the water and each other’s company. It was a great day (although some of us got a little sunburnt). We headed back in the afternoon and then met up with some of our friends at a local beach bar/hang out location, Chat N’ Chill, for more conversation. This place also had tree swings, beach space and volleyball nets to keep the kids occupied. However, our kids were pretty tired out by the long hours in the sun, so they didn’t take full advantage of the activities available to them.

The following day we started by moving Seasura to another anchorage. The talk amoung the cruisers in the habour was that there was a ‘big blow’ coming in from the west and we needed to be in an anchorage that provided better protection. We were aware of this, but it is somewhat humourous to see how everyone talks about it and everyone was moving their boat on the same day! We moved across the harbour to Goats Cay. Unfortunately, we discovered that in that anchorage, although it had better protection from the westerly winds, it had direct access to the ocean swells. So, it ended up being very rolly despite the wind protection. Oh well. The benefit was, other kid boats were there and there was easy access to a beach, even with a choppy dinghy ride. After moving the boat, we went to town to get fuel and groceries. We wanted to go early so that we could get these things before the wind started to pick up. Also, we wanted to go for a hike, really a walk, up to the top of the only hill we have seen in the Exumas. When we got to town, we got the groceries and the headed for fuel. There is only one gas station in Elizabeth Harbour and that is where we were supposed to pick up diesel. However, it wasn’t available that day. Apparently, it was shift change at the gas station and that meant a 20 minutes wait before somebody could help us. That wouldn’t stop us, but their fuel filter was clogged and needed to be replaced and they couldn’t guarantee th they would be able to replace it that day. We tried the yacht club instead. However, they reported that it was a $40 landing fee (meaning it would cost us $40USD just to put our dinghy at their dock while we got fuel from them) on top of cost of fuel which was more expensive than at the gas station and they also added credit card charge of 5%. We decided not to get diesel from the yacht club. We figured we would try another day since it wasn’t a rush anyway.

After dropping our groceries back at Seasura we dinghied across the harbour to Monument Beach on Stocking Island . This is where we were anchored before, but also had the trail that led up to the local hill. The hill had a white oblisk-like monument on the top. We were told that hike would take some time and was pretty steep. However, those that told us this must never have been to BC and experienced some real mountains. It was a pleasant seven minute saunter to the top through jungle-like foliage. The monument had no plaque and there is no information as to what it is a monument for. We extended the hike by going back down the other side and walking along the beach, as well as the northern part of the island. The kids found a short steep sandy cliff that they were able to ‘ski’ down. After the hike we headed back to the boat. We had a short visit with friends before our usual quiet evening on the boat, marked only by the arrival of the winds.

The winds blew quite consistently for the next 2 days and were pretty strong. We had hoped our anchorage would improve but the waves continued to come in from the ocean so it was very rolly despite the protection of the island from the westerly winds. We got ourselves into rain jackets and took the short dinghy ride to the nearest beach after school on Tuesday to meet up with new and old friends. The kids had a chance to play in the sand and water, while the adults chatted. It was nice to get off the boat and stretch our legs after spending all of Monday on Seasura.

That night we had consistent 30+ knot winds. The boat rocked like crazy and kept Kevin and I awake all night. Thus, when the winds changed direction first thing in the morning, we picked up anchor and moved to Sand Dollar Beach on Stocking Island. It is closer to town and more protected from the ocean swells. It is very very busy here, but there is lots of room, even with the two mooring fields on either side. We were very happy to be on smoother waters. The wind continued to blow but from the north now and it slowly eased through the day. This was another boat day working on re-caulking our sink (which has been leaking into the cupboard below for the last 6 months) and finally permenantly mounting our newest Starlink dish. When we first got on the boat we got the standard Starlink dish but had heard that they were going to come out with a marine/flat high-performance dish that would be able to run the marine service package, covering us for internet even when far off shore. So, in anticipation, Kevin purchased the flat marine dish to be installed on our hardtop. We have had it on the boat since we first arrived in the U.S. back in May. Our original Starlink dish is strapped to the antenna pole over the dinghy davits. When we applied our solar panels we left a specific spot for the marine Starlink dish. However, shortly after arriving in the U.S. it became possible to apply the marine service package to the standard dish. As a results, installation of the marine dish fell down the priority list of boat jobs. This week, Kevin decided to finally install it and he spent the better part of the boat day running all the cables and wires to get the system up and running. Now, we have switched Starlink dishes and our internet is even better than before. Better yet, our VHF radio is also improved because the wifi access point is in a more central location.

The wind continued to slowly die down even over the following 2 days so we decided to continue working on our list of boat jobs, especially while the kids were doing school work and I was doing some work. One day, Kevin even managed to do complete three boat jobs! He cleaned out the filter for the freezer compressor, corrected the wiring connection to the lighting over the counter in the kitchen (I have been making dinner by lantern light for the last several months) and replaced our chart plotter! Our chart plotter has always intermittently gone on the fritz. It will suddenly start flickering and not longer respond to our touch. We thought at first it was over heating, but it has since seemed to be very random. Kevin managed to purchase a used chart plotter at a good price when we were back in Charleston on EBay. It required that he make the whole larger at the helm station. We never love putting in new or larger wholes in the boat, although one so high above the waterline is pretty low risk. He did a great job though, and now we have a new fully functional chart plotter that won’t stop working at the most inopportune times. Finally, Kevin also moved our generator controls from the string it hung on in our starboard engine room to be properly seated in the helm station.

In between boat jobs and schoolwork we made a few trips to town for groceries and fuel. We had to make several trips because we were hoping to get fully fueled up and stocked for a trip to the Ragged Islands (where there are very few towns let alone shops). However, the grocery store was running lower and lower on fresh veggies and the the gas station was actually out of diesel one time that we went! our repetitive trips did pay off however, and we are now set to be away from shops for over two weeks if needed. I am hoping we don’t have to go to town much more, because there continue to be choppy waves in the harbour and every time we come back from town, we get drenched in salt water on the dinghy ride back. These are the parts of dinghy life that I don’t appreciate.

Last night we went back to Chat N’ Chill for an evening with friends and listening to live music (there was a roof top concert put on by a local band on top of a houseboat). We were hoping to leave for the Ragged Islands today, but our fellow cruisers advised us to wait a few more days until the seastate and waves from the latest blow settle more. They are all leaving in a few days and we would be accompanied by them and probably have a smoother ride. So, again we are waiting for the right weather window to move on. That said, next week, I should be writing from the Ragged Islands and hopefully have some stories about fishing!